Monaco defender Guillermo Maripan has been linked with West Ham, Watford and Tottenham. (Photo by Jeroen Meuwsen/Soccrates/Getty Images)

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West Ham and their 19 top flight rivals were due to have finished the 2019/20 campaign last weekend, but instead nine games are still remaining for the Hammers, with professional football in England currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first step towards the return of football has been made this week, with players from top flight clubs returning to training in small groups, while observing social distancing.

But concerns remain among some players about the risks of returning to football, with six positive tests from the first round of testing at Premier League clubs prior to the resumption of training.

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Watford have confirmed three positive tests at the club, with Adrian Mariappa speaking out about being the one player at the club who has tested positive for coronavirus.

No decisions have yet been made over when Premier League football could return, but further discussions are set to be held in the coming days and weeks.

Here are your morning West Ham headlines for Thursday, May 21.

Defender speaks out on his future amid West Ham links

Monaco defender Guillermo Maripan is on the radar for several Premier League clubs this summer, according to reports.

West Ham are understood to be among the clubs who have watched the Chilean, along with top flight rivals Watford and Tottenham.

And the 26-year-old has dropped a hint over a possible move to the Premier League after admitting he would like to play in England.

“Personally, I’ve always liked the Premier League a lot, I’ve always wanted to play there and I am aiming there,” Maripán told Radio Cooperativa, as reported via AS.

Monaco paid €18million to Spanish side Alaves for the defender last summer, with Maripan playing 16 times for the Ligue 1 side in the 2019/20 campaign.

West Ham during the break

Rio Ferdinand's message for West Ham

Former West Ham defender Rio Ferdinand has called on his old club to go back to giving young players more opportunities.

Ferdinand was one of several players to come through at West Ham in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe among others to shine in the first team after being given their debuts by the Hammers.

And Ferdinand believes the Hammers need to return to that model after some disappointments in the transfer market in recent years.

Rio Ferdinand is now a pundit for BT Sport. (Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

“I think recruitment could have been better," he said, speaking on the BBC podcast 606 Savage Social with Robbie Savage.

"But I think many clubs are probably in that position, spending a lot of money on players who haven’t given back their worth.

“My biggest thing for West Ham is that I look back at my time there and why did I sign for West Ham?

“West Ham wasn’t a fashionable club, West Ham wasn’t the club to go to, it wasn’t the breeding ground for young players and hadn’t brought a young player through to play in the first team since probably Paul Ince.

"What they created there was a vision, a pathway and a story board for the young kids to say we are going to bring the academy back and invest in young kids around the local area to come in and play for the first team.

“I don’t see that there at the moment. Declan Rice has come through, yes, but there’s not enough."

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David Moyes urged to listen to senior stars

Players from West Ham and other Premier League clubs have been returning to training this week in small groups.

Earlier this week, clubs unanimously voted to begin phase one of the return to training protocol, with players able to train in small groups while observing social distancing, with no contact permitted.

But former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson insists that it is important that senior players like Mark Noble are listened to, with the ex-Tottenham man speaking about the risks associated with the possible return of football.

“Unless the players’ safety can be 150% guaranteed there are going to be players that will not be happy to play. I would certainly not be happy to play given the risks.

“In dressing rooms, experienced, senior players will speak to others and form a nucleus of opinion. Senior players will feed that back to the manager and if players that do not want to play then the manager will have to be understanding of their personal scenarios."